A Resolution of the City of League City, TX to Protect and Defend the Constitution Right to Keep and Bear Arms Passed 7-1

It is not often when one witnesses history. Tonight, was such a night. The promise of a shining city on a Hill was in full glory. I saw Americans, specifically, TEXANS in League City exercising their GOD GIVEN RIGHT of free speech and vote on a resolution to announce in clear language that We The People of League City will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against the unconstitutional infringement from the Federal government to restrict those rights.

It was a full house. I observed grey haired motorcycle members with their emblems identifying their affiliation with their military service sit together in support of the resolution. There were TEA Party members from ClearLake, Pearland and the Texas Bay Area 9/12 group in attendance. Most were just ordinary Americans wanting to support this resolution. Members of the public spoke about what the Constitution means to them, and provided historic references to the first battle in the American Revolution. The peanut gallery gave heartfelt applause.

Then it was time for the TEA Party Patriot and Army veteran to present her case. Councilman Heidi Thiess eloquently described why she thought this was important to bring forward. She referenced current media attention after the tragic events in Sandy Hook, Colorado and elsewhere and calls for gun control. She quoted the Founders. She stated we should not put our law enforcement officers in a position where they must fight with or against us.

She reminded us that those that served in the military, and the Council itself, took an oath to protect, defend and preserve the Constitution. Heidi Thiess informed us that per capita, League City has the most Concealed Handgun licenses of any city in Texas. That is good company when you want to pass a resolution to protect the 2ndAmendment. It is great seeing two local TEA Party Patriots Heidi and Geri Bentley in elected positions in their communities making a difference.

Members of the council spoke in their support of the resolution with the exception of one councilman. He premised his response in that he was a member of the NRA, hunter, and CHL owner. He wanted to gain support from external organizations such as the county via HGAC to weigh in first prior to adopting this resolution. I recognized this as an Agenda 21 tactic. Apparently, he was concerned of retribution from the Federal government. My thoughts were “Come and Take It”. I could sense from the comments from the public that others felt the same way as I did. Another councilman wanted to provide a rebuttal. He told the audience that we had just heard was a lie! That he had helped the other councilman obtain his NRA license!!

Lastly, the mayor spoke. He rightfully recognized the funeral process of Chris Kyle, an American hero and supported the resolution!!!

The resolution passed 7-1!!! League City became the first city in the Nation to adopt this type of resolution!!!!

After the resolution, the council chambers emptied with just a handful of citizens waiting for the next topic. There were many empty seats. This was a clear sign that “We the People” will come out in force to support the Constitution!!!

Now is the time for Pearland, Alvin, Lake Jackson, Galveston, Angleton and other cities and counties to pass similar resolutions. Let’s get-err-done!!!

– –Pedro Rivera

Below are comments from Heidi Theiss as to why she felt it was important to bring this resolution on a city level, and following her comments is the resolution as it was presented and passed. Thank you Heidi for leading the way! Keep in mind that Heidi was willing to do the work, checked her facts and presented the resolution in a manner that could be passed by League City, and any city, county or state. She has most generously put this out there for anyone to take to their own city, county and state officials. If we are truly concerned about our liberties, we must DO something to protect them. We can affect change, but we must get off our couches and ENGAGE!

By Heidi Thiess

I’ve been asked, “Why bother filing a resolution to preserve the Second Amendment at the local level?” My reply is that local municipalities and counties are having to handle the issue on a daily basis while our state and federal officials dither and haggle. And we shouldn’t shrink from doing so.

The free exercise of the Second Amendment is an inalienable right and fundamental to our way of life. There is no elected official at any level of government who should avoid taking a stand on this issue. Anything less than the strongest possible statement to affirm our Constitution is an abdication of their oath of office. The oath of office we public representatives have sworn is very clear about our duty to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.

“I, Heidi Thiess, do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully execute the duties of the office of Council Member Position No. 3 of the City of League City of the State of Texas, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this State, so help me God.”

I take my oaths very seriously and won’t back down from my responsibility. It is unthinkable to me that I would swear such an oath and then be expected to stand by silently and watch our Constitution undermined and forsaken. That will not happen on my watch! It is a shame that anyone with a smidgen of civic responsibility would not want us to take such a stand by claiming that municipal officials should busy themselves only with sidewalks, ditches, and parks. Council members are the closest possible representation that our citizens have! We, of all elected representatives, have the weightiest duty to stand up!

“There is no position which depends on clearer principles, than that every act of a delegated authority, contrary to the tenor of the commission under which it is exercised, is void. No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this, would be to affirm, that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by virtue of powers, may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.” -Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper #78

The fundamental principle behind the Second Amendment is actually pretty simple: it is the duty of the People to preserve Liberty and to do so they must keep and bear arms. Many politicians say they “support” the Second Amendment for hunters and sportsmen and personal protection. That is rhetorical nonsense and has absolutely nothing to do with the purpose of the Second Amendment. The true intent is to protect the citizens from tyranny: to keep us from becoming enslaved to a central government; to keep the federal government from levying and enforcing unjust, unconstitutional, and oppressive laws; and to preserve liberty and protect our Constitutional republic from men who act to infringe upon our liberty.

“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined.” -Patrick Henry Virginia Ratifying Convention June 5, 1788

What many citizens and legislators do not understand is that the federal government has no right to prevent any law-abiding citizen from owning or possessing any firearm. The Constitution and its history is unequivocally clear on this!

You simply cannot preserve Liberty by compromising the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment reads “the right of the People to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” That literally means the government is completely forbidden to violate or transgress the peoples’ right to bear arms. Yet Barack Obama and gun control advocates believe that it’s only “common sense” to allow the central government to decide who and on what terms the people can bear arms. Do you see how that is contrary to the very core of the Second Amendment?

Furthermore, Barack Obama says he is going to “direct the U.S. Attorney General [Eric Holder] to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun and make recommendations to ensure dangerous people aren’t slipping through the cracks.” I thought we were trying to make sure only criminals didn’t own guns. Now the government wants a new classification, “dangerous people”, and the administration gets to define WHO that is. So, according to Obama and his czars, who are the “dangerous” people today? Who will they be tomorrow? And then where does the compromise end? [paraphrase from KrisAnne Hall, Constitutional attorney and author]

Tyranny will reign when a central power determines that a free people are dangerous. That is when patriots become “enemies of the state.” And a move to disarm a free People is the first act of oppression:

“Another source of power in government is a military force. But this, to be efficient, must be superior to any force that exists among the people, or which they can command: for otherwise this force would be annihilated, on the first exercise of acts of oppression. Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power, and jealousy will instantly inspire the inclination, to resist the execution of a law which appears to them unjust and oppressive.” -Noah Webster, An Examination into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, 1787

I resist, and call upon my fellow citizens in League City to do the same. I cited four authorities for the Resolution I’ve proposed for League city: the Second, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments of the U.S Constitution, and Article 1, Section 23 of the Texas Constitution. The authority for the Resolution is undeniable, and sufficient to nullify any attempt by the federal government to infringe on our rights.

The paragraphs that give the League City Resolution some teeth is the paragraph nullifying any attempt by the federal government to register, tax, restrict, or confiscate our firearms. That section in particular is taken directly from current legislation filed in Austin (HB 553). The state legislation goes even further to make it a criminal offense for anyone who attempts to infringe on our inalienable Second Amendment rights. The bill has a good chance of passage and will completely undergird our local Resolution. Even if it doesn’t pass as-is, then our Resolution will only need its teeth in Section 3 to protect our police officers and citizens if the federal government invades our communities to confiscate our firearms – in which case, we’ve got much bigger problems at hand.

Barack Obama recently said while surrounded by children,“If parents and teachers, police officers, and pastors, if hunters and sportsman, if responsible gun owners, if Americans of every background stand up and say, enough. We’ve suffered too much pain, and care too much about our children to allow this to continue, then change will come.” I counter with the words of

Statesman Daniel Webster who said, “Is the Constitution worth preserving? Guard it as you would the seat of your life; guard it not only against the open blows of violence, but also against that spirit of change.”

I will.

RESOLUTION NO. 2013-_______

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF LEAGUE CITY, TEXAS TO PROTECT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS; AND PROVIDING OTHER MATTERS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT

WHEREAS, a government of, by, and for the people has long been a cherished American value and the foundation of our freedom; and We The People’s fundamental and inalienable right to self-govern, and thereby secure rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness is guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and;

WHEREAS, the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution provides: “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

WHEREAS, the Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,” and;

WHEREAS, the Texas Constitution, Article 1 Section 23a declares: “Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defense of himself or the State,” and;

WHEREAS, the citizens of League City, Texas recognize their duty as law-abiding citizens to act in accordance with the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution, and agree that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon by any government or organization, political or otherwise.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LEAGUE CITY, TEXAS, as follows:

Section 1. The citizens representatives, City Council and Mayor of League City, Texas hereby call upon our state legislators and elected officials to join with us in the affirmation of the rights of our citizens under the 2nd Amendment.

Section 2. All federal acts, laws, executive orders, agency orders, and rules or regulations of all kinds with the purpose, intent, or effect of confiscating any firearm, banning any firearm, limiting the size of a magazine for any firearm, imposing any limit on the ammunition that may be purchased for any firearm, taxing any firearm or ammunition therefore, or requiring the registration of any firearm or ammunition therefore, infringes upon Texans’ right to bear arms in direct violation of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and therefore, any such law is not made in pursuance of the Constitution, is not authorized by the Constitution, and thus, is not the supreme law of the land, and consequently, is invalid in the State of Texas and shall be further considered null and void and of no effect in this City.

Section 3. That all agencies of the City of League City are instructed to refuse requests or directives by federal agencies acting under unconstitutional powers enumerated in Section 2above that would infringe upon our residents’ second, ninth, and tenth amendment rights, or other inalienable rights not here explicitly enumerated; and

Section 4. The City of League City, State of Texas calls on other communities and jurisdictions to join with us in this action by passing similar Resolutions.

Section 5. That copies of this Resolution be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, each member of Congress from the State of Texas, the Honorable John Roberts, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court; each justice on the United States Supreme Court; the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Texas’ legislature; each individual legislator that represents our district in the State of Texas; and the Sheriff of Galveston County.

3 responses to “A Resolution of the City of League City, TX to Protect and Defend the Constitution Right to Keep and Bear Arms Passed 7-1”

Thanks, Pedro, for this report. It was So exciting to be a part of this last night. I am proud to call League City home. But you are right. We cannot rest now. We need to take this to every city in every county in every state. Heidi did the hard work in writing it. The rest is up to us. We can get it done!

I lived in and loved League City, TX! I am proud that they are standing up for our Constitution!! However, you have a “traitor” among you…from AZ…living right there…Gabby Giffords and her husband, who want to take our 2nd Amendment rights away from us. You should run them out of League City!!

Gabby Giffords had a horrible thing done to her, I agree.
But, that has nothing to do with our rights to keep and bear
arms. It is wrong for Mr. and Mrs. Giffords to play that game.
I am proud of the Texans of League City, to make their voice
heard, and to stand proudly and unafraid, to use the laws of
the land in their behalf !!